Leave a Comment · Posted on January 2, 2020
Hive Young Creatives Barnsley Half term sessions
HIVE YOUNG CREATIVES BARNSLEY – FEB HALF TERM SESSIONS
Tue 18, Wed 19 & Fri 21 Feb 2:30pm – 5:30pm (let us know if you can’t make all)
The Civic Barnsley The Gallery @ The Civic, Hanson Street, Barnsley S70 2HZ
Are you aged 14 –21 and interested in creative writing, contemporary art or design? If so, this series of free workshops is for you!
Work with professional writers and artists and have a go at generating 
creative writing (and maybe even drawing) inspired by current exhibitions (by Mark Evans & Paula Chambers) at The Civic Barnsley exploring mental health, portraiture and domestic rebellion through sculpture, photography and drawing.
No experience necessary and you don’t have to think you’re a great writer to come along. All you need is an interest in being creative and trying something new.
Participants will be given the opportunity to submit work to a print publication launched later in the summer, and you’ll find out more about opportunities with Hive and Barnsley Civic for young creatives.
Sessions are free, friendly and relaxed, but places are limited. To avoid missing out, book your place soon by contacting youngcreatives@hivesouthyorkshire.com
What you waiting for? Come and be creative this half term!
Dates/times (these might change slightly so get in touch soon!)
Workshops: Tue 18, Wed 19 & Fri 21 Feb 2:30pm – 5:30pm (let us know if you can’t make all)
In partnership with Hive South Yorkshire & The Civic Barnsley (working with Esmee Fairbairn)
Hive young creatives is a programme of workshops working with partners to inspire creative thinking and writing through artistic and cultural exploration.
Photos: Mark Evans Exhibition & top, Paula Chambers Exhibition (Shoplifting in Woolworths and Other Acts of Material Disobedience)
Leave a Comment · Posted on December 12, 2019
Young Poets Writers’ Day: Putting together a pamphlet
Young Poets Writers’ Day: Putting together a poetry pamphlet for submission
Saturday 8th Feb 2020 – 10.30 to 5pm at The Poetry Business, Campo Lane, Sheffield
Application deadline: Midnight Friday 10th January 20120
Are you a young poet in Yorkshire or Derbyshire between the ages of 17 and 30?
Do you have a number of strong poems that you’d like to shape into a pamphlet submission for the New Poets Prize, the Poetry Business pamphlet competition or another submission, but feel unsure how to go about it?
Hive have teamed up with purveyors of fine contemporary poetry, The Poetry Business, to offer a writing and editing day for young poets in the region at a stage where they would like to take their poetry further. This is an exciting opportunity to help you shape a body of work and receive expert advice and tutoring from poet and co-director of The Poetry Business, Peter Sansom. The intensive day will involve looking at previous pamphlets, discussing existing poems, and writing new work. You’ll be given an introduction to The Poetry Business and tips on strengthening and building on a potential pamphlet submission.
Participants will receive a free Poetry Business Pamphlet in the run-up which they will be asked to read to feedback on as part of the day’s activities.
For more about the New Poets Award (deadline 1st March 2020), click here.
Who can apply?
Priority will be given to poets aged 17 to 24 years of age on 1st March 2020 (the deadline for the New Poets Prize), and living, or with a home address, in Yorkshire (if that’s not you, but you live elsewhere in the North and are interested in this opportunity, do drop us a line anyway in case there is a spare place or we can signpost you to further opportunities in future). We’re also happy to hear from poets 25 to 30 (again subject to space).
If you are unsure whether you’re at a stage where you’re ready to apply, drop Vicky a line to discuss at: vicky@hivesouthyorkshire.com
Cost: The day costs just £10 (we can reduce this for a number of places if it’s in any way a barrier), included refreshments (but not lunch), and a free Poetry Business Pamphlet worth £5/£6. Please mention in your application if so. Places limited. We are always keen to hear from young writers from diverse backgrounds, and those who feel they wouldn’t normally access this kind of opportunity.
To apply:
Send 5 to 7 of your best poems of any length (in one word document), each starting a new page, with a statement of interest on the first page – no longer than 400 words, to include why you would like to be considered for this opportunity, your experience of poetry so far, any writing aspirations you’d like to share, and anything else you’re like us to know. The applications will be looked at by Peter Samson from The Poetry Business.
Send your application to pamphletday@hivesouthyorkshire.com by midnight 10th January 2020
The New Poets Prize is a pamphlet competition for writers between the ages of 17 and 24 (inclusive). This prize runs alongside the renowned International Book & Pamphlet Competition organized by The Poetry Business, which has now been established for 34 years. Previous winners of te New Poets Prize have included several Yorkshire young poets including Warda Yassin who’s part of Hive’s poetry collective.
The Poetry Business publishes books, pamphlets and audio under the Smith/Doorstop imprint, and new imprint The New Poets List. They also publish literary magazine The North, and run Writing Days, the Writing School, and the international Book and Pamphlet Competition.
Peter Sansom is a poet and tutor, and co-directs the Poetry Business along with his wife, the poet Ann Sansom. He has published six books of poetry include On the Pennine Way (Littlewood, 1988) and Careful What You Wish For (Carcanet, 2015). He is also the author of the influential book, Writing Poems (Bloodaxe 1994). Peter co-edits The North Magazine and Smith/Doorstop Books. His poetry commissions include work for The Guardian, The Observer, Radio Three, and a billboard in the centre of Lancaster.
Leave a Comment · Posted on November 5, 2019
Hive Poetry Sessions
Hive Poetry is a monthly poetry workshop for young people 17 to 30 yrs from across Sheffield, Rotherham, Doncaster & Barnsley (who don’t attend another Hive group in South Yorkshire)
Write poems, read poems, get ideas, build skills, learn from feedback, hear about opportunities and be inspired by others who buzz off the same thing in a relaxed atmosphere. Be it hobby interest, serious career or portfolio focus, join us to stay in your creative groove!
The group is run by widely published poet, editor and mentor, Vicky Morris, and is open to all levels and interests.
Where: Sheffield town centre venue,
When: currently 12.45 to 3pm on a Sunday
£1.50 suggested minimum donation, £3 ideal!
Come along 12th Jan 2020
Interested? Email info@hivesouthyorkshire.com
Why so cheap? Sessions are subsidised to encourage younger writers to travel from across South Yorkshire to attend. If travel costs are an issue, let us know.
“I really look forward to these sessions and the supportive atmosphere and people.” Warda Yassin – New Poets Prize Winner 2018
Leave a Comment · Posted on November 5, 2019
surfing the twilight Hive anthology is here!
We are excited to say, surfing the twilight is now available to buy (best Christmas present ever!) This wonderfully moving and diverse anthology showcases 78 works of poetry, short story and flash — the work of a whopping 69 young and emerging writers in the region including award winners Warda Yassin, Lauren Hollingsworth Smith, Ciah White and Georgie Woodhead. It also celebrates the winners of our 2019 Hive Young Writers’ Competition, open to young writers from across the region. A wonderful gift for fiction and poetry lovers and a snip at £6.00 (post +pp & £6.50 shop)
“A wonderful anthology – imaginative, sensitive, surprising, lively and positively bursting with fresh new voices. I couldn’t put this book down, to read it is to be captivated by astounding talent in the making. These are writers I know we’ll be seeing books by in the future. It’s a joy to read them.” – Angela Readman
“From grandmothers to snow, a girl who lives in a jam jar to a skate park at twilight, the poems are varied in their subject matter and united in their excellence. Moving, imaginative, exciting, this writing makes clear that the future of poetry is in very safe hands.” – Jonathan Edwards
Buy surfing the twilight
You can buy surfing the twilight in Sheffield at the wonderful All Good Stuff at Butcher Works on Arundel Street (near the uni and train station, here on streetview) for £6.50. Or if you can’t get to the shop, we can deliver by post (payment by internet bank transfer or Paypal)
If by post, drop us a line to books@hivesouthyorkshire.com with: 1) the number of copies you’d like 2) how you’d like to pay (Paypal or bank transfer). We’ll get back promptly confirming the amount with details of how to pay.
At All Good Stuff: £6.50 | Post: 1 copy £6.00 + £1.50 pp (total £7.50)
(If you’d like to purchase more copies, do contact us for a price. We’re happy to do a discount)
Why is it so cheap you might ask? Because we want it to be accessible to everyone, young and old. Proceeds go back into the project.
surfing the twilight is a limited edition, not-for-profit publication in part funded
by Arts Council of England | www.hivesouthyorkshire.com
Leave a Comment · Posted on October 2, 2019
Congratulations Lauren Hollingsworth Smith winner of the Foyle Young Poet of the Year Award!
Huge congratulations are in order to 17-year-old Lauren Hollingsworth Smith of Rotherham Young Writers – one of the 15 winning poets of the Foyle Young Poets of the Year 2019!
“If poetry is the language of being human, here we have poets speaking in every cadence possible.” – Jackie Kay and Raymond Antrobus, Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award judges 2019
On 2 October 2019, the top 15 poets and 85 commended poets who are winners of this year’s Foyle Young Poets Award were announced at a glitzy ceremony at Southbank Centre, London. The top 15 poets read their winning poems to an excited room of young writers, parents, VIP guests and established poets. Following their reading, they heard from and had a chance to ask questions of this year’s judges Raymond Antrobus and Jackie Kay, as well as Foyle Patrons Ellie Kendrick (herself a former winner) and best-selling poet Nikita Gill.
The winning entries were selected from over 6,000 poets and over 11,000 poems by this year’s poet judges Raymond Antrobus and Jackie Kay. Writers aged 11-17 entered the competition from 76 different countries, from as far afield as Vietnam, Romania, Mexico and Japan, as well as the four corners of the UK.
You can read all the winning poems here. And that’s a fab photo of Lauren’s winning poem ‘I want to stand naked in the school hall’ below.
Massive thanks to The Poetry Society for all you do to support and encourage poets of all ages!
Lauren Hollingsworth Smith
Lauren Hollingsworth Smith is a young writer from Rotherham who attends Hive’s Rotherham Young Writers. She was highly commended in the Young Northern Writers Award 2019, and is one of 15 Foyle Young Poet Award winners 2019. Lauren volunteers for Grimm & Co in Rotherham and is passionate about pursuing writing in the future. She has been published in Hive anthology, halfway smile. recently she was commissioned to write a poem about a UK bird for Hive’s Birdlife podcast project. She’s performed at various young writers’ events, and festivals including the Ted Hughes Poetry Festival 2019.
Leave a Comment · Posted on September 25, 2019
Young Writers’ Open Mic & Anthology Launch 30th Oct
Young Writers’ Open Mic & Hive Anthology Launch
Wed 30th Oct | 7.30pm – 10pm (doors open 7.10pm)
Where: SHU Performance Lab Arundel Gate, Sheffield S1 2LQ (4 minutes for Sheffield train station)
Facebook event here | Street view here
£1 minimum suggested donation / or whatever you can afford (We are asking for a little support to help us keep doing what we do)
We’re calling you … young people (14-30s) from across South Yorkshire. If you write poems or tell stories or have anything else to say out loud to a supportive audience, this is an evening to celebrate your words, ideas and talents in a warm atmosphere.Events are open to all, both new & experienced performers. Pre-sign up for the open mic is now closed until on the night. There will be a sign-up sheet at the table as you come in that you can put your name down on then, or if you decide later (as people often do once they realise how supportive it is) in the break. Slots limited.
Hosted by Sile Sibanda
A partnership with Sheffield Hallam University & Verse Matters
Leave a Comment · Posted on September 25, 2019
Georgie Woodhead BBC Short Story Award Congratulations!
Congratulations Georgie Woodhead!
Winner of the BBC Young Writers’ Award 2019
A massive congratulations to Sheffield Young Writer’s Georgie Woodhead, the winner and one of five shortlisted for the BBC Young Writers’ Short Story Award with First Story and Cambridge University
Georgie’s story Jelly-headed, described as ‘a comic, quirky and ultimately tragic story of two friends, a night out and a lightning strike that brings devastation. A story about guilt and the absurdity of life, this funny, subversive story is ultimately about searching for meaning or connection’, has rather excitingly been recorded by a professional actor for BBC Radio 1. You can listen to it here.
The shortlist was announced on BBC Radio 1 on 22nd September, and all five teenagers attended the exclusive BBC Short Story Awards ceremony with their families on Tuesday 1 October 2019, when the winner was announced live on BBC Radio 4’s Front Row. There, they met high-profile authors, publishers, agents and broadcasters at the award ceremony.
You can hear an interview with Georgie here (16mins in)with Paulette Edwards on BBC Radio Sheffield.
Congratulations also to the following stories and shortlisted:
‘Insula’ by Eleanor Clark, 16, from mid-Devon
‘Another Pair of Eyes’ by Tallulah Howarth, 17, from Macclesfield
‘The Blue of Spring Violets’ by Isobel Paxton, 17, from Edinburgh
‘Allotment’ by Rowan Taylor, 16, from Reading
The five shortlisted stories are available to read and listen to on the Radio 1 website. They are also available on BBC Sounds as part of the Short Works short story podcast. www.bbc.co.uk/ywa
For the first time, a love of poetry and a desire to experiment with the short story form has been mentioned by each of the shortlisted writers, with 2018 Foyle Young Poet Georgie Woodhead featuring on the shortlist. The five stories – many deeply personal – range from the comic, to the lyrical, to the tragic, and are written by an all-female shortlist of young writers aged 16 and 17 years from across the UK.
Showing a fearless confidence in form and tone, the stories explore divorce, coming of age, mental illness, loneliness and the meaning of life, and range from the meditative to flash-fiction. Whether it be the brutally evocative story of kinship found in hospital as a teenager battles anorexia; the implosion of a young girl’s family life told through the change of seasons on her father’s allotment; the tragi-comic story of a freak accident on a nightclub roof; a search for the meaning of home via a journey from island to city; or the funny and tender story of an introvert archivist and his connection to an exhibit – each finalist has shown a fresh, sophisticated and unique approach to their subject.
Katie Thistleton is joined on this year’s judging panel by former teacher and Betty Trask Award winner Anthony Cartwright; Waterstones Prize and YA Bookseller Prize-winning writer Patrice Lawrence; winner of the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize and British Book Awards Children’s Book of the Year children’s author Kiran Millwood Hargrave; and writer, rapper and world-record breaking human beatboxer Testament.
Kiran Millwood Hargrave, judge and author, says:
“This was one of the most stimulating and collaborative experiences of judging I’ve ever had and we’ve emerged with a shortlist to be proud of. The writers demonstrate all the skills I look for in any piece of writing, from immediacy of voice to sensitive pacing, and most of all an emotional connection made with the reader. I think the way a story is told is just as important as the story itself, and these writers have each paid attention to language as well as plot.”
Dr Sarah Dillon, Faculty of English, Cambridge University, says:
“In a modern world in which the pace of life so often outstrips our ability to process it, these wonderful stories all show how words can create a bubble of calm in which to feel, remember, laugh and cry. Our shortlistees represent a new generation of writers whose concerns and use of form both link them to the past and yet depart from it. The University of Cambridge is delighted to celebrate these young women shortlisted for the BBC Young Writers’ Award with First Story and Cambridge University, who will shape the future of writing just as Cambridge alumni such as Zadie Smith and Helen Oyeyemi have done before them.”
Georgie Woodhead is 16 years old and lives in Sheffield. She is an avid writer and greatly enjoys the creative process. Georgie is also a skilled poet and won the esteemed Foyle Young Poet Award, was highly commended in the Cuckoo Northern Writers Award, and was the runner-up in the young people’s category of the Ledbury Poetry Competition, all in 2018. Georgie likes to read novels and short stories, mainly contemporary fiction, from writers such as Etgar Keret, Kafka, J.D Salinger, and Arundhati Roy. In the future, Georgie hopes to continue to develop her writing work, and to travel.
ABOUT THE AWARD: This is the fifth year of the BBC Young Writers’ Award which invites all 14 – 18-year-olds living in the United Kingdom to submit short stories of up to 1,000 words. The Award was launched as part of the tenth anniversary celebrations for the BBC National Short Story Award and aims to inspire and encourage the next generation of writers. Previous winners are Brennig Davies (2015), Lizzie Freestone (2016), Elizabeth Ryder (2017) and Davina Bacon (2018).
Partners: BBC, First Story & Cambridge University
Leave a Comment · Posted on September 20, 2019
Mixing Roots showcase – with Warda Yassin and Guests
A poetry reading Supported by Hatch & Off the Shelf Festival of Words
Tues 15 October 2019 6.30 to 8pm
At Israac Somali Community & Cultural Centre
Israac Centre: 54 Cemetery Rd, Sheffield (near the bottom of The Moor)
FREE | Refreshments provided | All welcome!
A poetry performance celebrating young women, their creativity and cultures. Join local Somali Poet and winner of the New Poets Prize 2018, Warda Yassin, guest poets, and young women from the Mixing Roots writing project. A free publication featuring work produced during the project will be available at the event.
Supported by Off the Shelf Festival of Words Hive South Yorkshire & Israac Centre
…
Mixing Roots was a project bringing together girls & young women from different backgrounds & cultures in a supportive space to talk, share & write about everything from the roots we come from & what has been passed down to us, to who we are today.
The project is led by award-winning writer & teacher Warda Yassin who’ll offer fun ways to share & write. It will end with a celebration & publication launch at Off the Shelf Festival of Words in the autumn.
Mixing Roots is aimed at those new to a writing group, no experience is needed & all levels are welcome. We’re particularly keen to encourage women of colour from any or no faith, and those who might not feel very confident but want to try something new & creative.
Supported by Hive’s Hatch Programme & Off the Shelf Festival of Words
Leave a Comment · Posted on September 1, 2019
Poetry in Unexpected Places with Andrew McMillan
Poetry in Unexpected Places – with poet Andrew McMillan
Hive Young Writers’ Day in partnership with Off the Shelf Festival of Words
Sat 26th Oct – 10.30am – 4 pm | Venue: Sheffield Hallam University, Owen Building S1 2ND
Open to young people aged 14 – 25 years from across South Yorkshire
Join Barnsley bred award-winning poet, Andrew McMillan, to write poems in new and exciting ways where content and form are pushed. Some of the best writing comes when we leave our usual zone and take ourselves to places we might not have been before. A fun, stimulating day of writing, reading and thinking for young writers of any experience.
Supported by Off the Shelf & Sheffield Hallam University Faculty of Development & Society
Tickets: only £6 (discount available where needed) including refreshments (but not lunch)
Discounts: Please note, Hive writers’ day are subsidised to make them affordable, but Hive is particularly keen to encourage young people who maybe wouldn’t normally access this type of opportunity, and there are always discounts available for a number of tickets to support individuals who may be unable to pay in full, or to support travel costs within the region. Get in touch ASAP before places fill up if that sounds like you.
Booking: To book a place on this Writers’ Day, email book@hivesouthyorkshire.com
Where:Sheffield Hallam University Owen Building S1 2ND
Andrew McMillan’s debut collection physical was the first ever poetry collection to win The Guardian First Book Award. The collection also won the Fenton Aldeburgh First Collection Prize, a Somerset Maugham Award (2016), an Eric Gregory Award (2016) and a Northern Writers’ award (2014). It was shortlisted the Dylan Thomas Prize, the Costa Poetry Award, The Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year 2016, the Forward Prize for Best First Collection, the Roehampton Poetry Prize and the Polari First Book Prize. It was a Poetry Book Society Recommendation for Autumn 2015.
Most recently physical has been translated into Norwegian (Aschehoug, 2017), a bi-lingual French edition, Le Corps Des Hommes (Grasset, 2018) and Galician (A Chan da Polvora, 2019). His second collection, playtime, was published by Jonathan Cape in 2018; it was a Poetry Book Society Recommendation for Autumn 2018, a Poetry Book of the Month in both The Observer and The Telegraph and a Poetry Book of the Year in The Sunday Times. It is longlisted for the Polari Prize. He is senior lecturer at the Manchester Writing School at MMU and lives in Manchester. www.andrewmcmillanpoet.co.uk
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Hive Young Writers’ Days
Hive Young Writers’ Days are a chance for young writers, whatever your interest and ability, to develop your writing with support from professional writers, while meeting other young writers, and getting involved in the Hive young writers’ network.
Hive Young Writers’ Days are open to young people 14 to 25 (this changes sometimes). If you don’t quite fit, but you’d like to come, get in touch with us: info@hivesouthyorkshire.com)
For more about our writers’ days click here.
Leave a Comment · Posted on September 20, 2019
The Youth Word Up 2019 with Vanessa Kisuule
Working in partnership with Off the Shelf Festival of Words
Performance: Young people and poet Vanessa Kisuule
Events: 24th Oct 2019 | 7.30 – 9.30pm -The Hubs, Sheffield
Free event. Register via Eventbrite here
It’s that time of year again for the Youth Word Up – working with young people’s services in Sheffield & South Yorkshire. Local young people will perform pieces written during workshops with Vicky Morris from Hive, sharing their experiences and hopes. Many have never done anything like this before and have written brave and beautiful work about everything that can happen in young lives. Sharing the stage with the young performers are young writers from Hive and headline poet and slam champion, Vanessa Kisuule. Her poetry collections are Joyriding the Storm and A Recipe for Sorcery and she is currently Bristol City Poet.
Suitable for ages 13+, parental guidance applies
Free anthology from the project available at the event
About the Youth Word Up
As part of his guest curation of Off the Shelf in 2012, poet, novelist and activist, Benjamin Zephaniah, created The Youth Word Up – a project designed to give young people a chance to have their voices heard alongside an established poet.
Now in its 8th year, the Youth Word Up is an ongoing success with young people writing poetry and performing it alongside top poets at yearly events during the Festival. In 2013, a Youth Word Up, audio-visual installation of young people’s spoken poetry was showcased in Sheffield’s Winter Gardens. And since 2012 a publication of work by young people was produced from the project.
The Youth Word Up is an Off the Shelf Festival of Words Project funded by Arts Council – Grants for the Arts
Supported by Sheffield City Council, Sheffield Community Youth Teams, Sheffield Youth Justice Service, Chilypep, Healthwatch, Doncaster Foyer, Care team, Hive South Yorkshire, Vicky Morris and Arts Council England.
